dickensandtrollopefandomcom-20200213-history
Mortimer Lightwood
'Mortimer Lightwood' Mortimer Lightwood is a lawyer and a member of the upper class. He is often seen with his best friend and business associate Eugene Wrayburn. The two attended school together, and can perhaps represent the varying results of priviledged education. While Eugene almost squanders his education in his laziness, Mortimer is typically portrayed as more of a focused professional with a work ethic. His character, perhaps, isn't as dynamic as others, but rather more constant and enduring. Towards the end of the novel, after seeing his best friend through a near death experience and witnessing and suppporting Eugene's marriage to the lower class girl Lizzie Hexam, Mortimer ends the novel at one of the Veneering's dinner parties, refusing to engage any of the insipid guests in their insipid conversation. 'Chapter II' "'Upon my life,' says Mortimer languidly, 'I find it immensely embarrassing to have the eyes of Europe upon me to this extent, and my only consolation is that you will all of you execrate Lady Tippens in your secret hearts when you find, as you inevitably will, the man from Somewhere a bore. Sorry to destroy romance by fixing him with a local habitation...'" (23). *In this scene, Mortimer and Eugene are dining at one of the high class Veneering dinners, and Mortimer is being implored to tell the story of the Man from Somewhere. He, however, is reluctant to tell it because he feels (or so it seems) like the story is a boring. It becomes evident later in his dialogue that such high class folk would rather hear sensationalism about romance and adventures instead of those about real, local stories. Such an acknowledgement seems to speak reasonably well of him, as he appears to be aware of the mores of high society and similarly appears to negotiate such territory without degrading himself. Indeed, as he predicts, Lady Tippens falls asleep during the story. "I must refer you to the Registrar of the District in which the humble dwelling was situated, for the certified cause of death..." (24-5). *At this point in his story, Mortimer pauses to direct his audience to an officially sanctioned source for more acurate information on the man's death. In the western rhetorical tradition, providing evidence or appealing to "truth" (i.e. that of the state) assured the speaker authority and credibility, and to some extent, we see it working in the same way here. Rather than provide the rich folk with some sensational account of the man's death that Mortimer could just as easily make up and they'd believe, he refers them to somewhere else. Whether this is conscious evasion, a deliberate tactic to deprive the listeners of the exciting details of a death, or simply his own disinterest is anyone's guess. 'Chapter VII' The beginning of the chapter begins talking about Mortimer's law clerk, the young boy Blight, and how in the newspapers his title reads "eminent solicitor" (91). *This is a noteworthy moment because it associates Mortimer with a specific type of literary document: the newspaper.